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In Space, No One Can Hear You Gentrify Part 1: Bonecrusher vs Gravity
Deep Space - Galactic Plane - Milky Way Among the vast sea of stars, you see a remnant of a broken triangular asteroid fragment. Covering the upper side of the asteroid is a layer of green slime. The slime drips over the edges, forming dangling icicles of slime. On its undersurface, you see a few areas of bare brown rock. ' It is the year....2035! ' '' The dastardly Decepticons plan to build a nightmarish all power SUPER WEAPON on an asteroid called 818Q, and have sent Blitzwing and Bonecrusher to clear the area for construction. But, thanks to the brave heroic nosiness of the Autobot Cosmos, Iacon has sent reinforcements. Will the Decepticons smash everything in sight? Or will the Autobots protect the strange ruins on this asteroid that no one has discovered yet but will quickly because they aren't hidden or anything? '' ' FIND OUT ON TONIGHT'S EPISODE OF THE TRANSFORMERS. ' A ship that looks like Blast Off except it's green lands on the Asteroid known as 818Q. The Construction known as Bonecrusher clangs down the ramp, punching his fist into his palm. "You know what I like the most and I MEAN THE MOST about this asteroid, Blitzwing?" He pauses, allowing for an answer. "I GET TO BEAT IT UP." BONECRUSHER transforms into his CONSTRUCTICON BRUISER mode! Sandstorm has arrived. Sandstorm strides into view, looking for some excitement. Blitzwing follows Bonecrusher down the shuttle's ramp, nonchalantly playing with his personalized bowie knife. "I think I can feel the asteroid trembling with fear, Bonecrusher." The triplechanger yawns, surveying the desolate face of the flying rock they are now standing on. Slingshot is calmly sitting inside they autobot shuttle...no not really. He's pacing in front of the hatch, ready to jump out to bust some Decepticon. Looking over his shoulder he shouts towards the pilot seat, "You know you fly like a civilian pilot. I thought you wreckers were faster than that!" Judgement transforms into his Apocryphacius mode. Fathom stands anxiously near the cockpit, frowning at the readouts on the console. Slingshot's gung-ho attitude prompts him to remind, "Please mind where you guys are shooting, if you have to shoot!" Apocryphacius is fidgetting. He's practically tying his tentacles in knots from nervousness. Apocryphacius has been assigned to Earth for months! It's been quiet. Peaceful, even. And the first mission away with the Autobots he's assigned, in... almost half a year, and... Well. It's hard to avoid looking at Fathom, five faces, ten optics, and all. A dolphin, eh? A... Dolphinbot. And there's... Sandstorm, too, and Apocryphacius doesn't want to look anywhere near him. So he settles his gaze on Slingshot. Wheelie is the one with a slingshot. Why is Slingshot named Slingshot? maddening. o/~ Give me the wheel, so we can move a little fast... You know you're desperate to get going when you've got to throw together a quick operation and you're letting a -Wrecker- drive the shuttle. Though Sandstorm was actually taking it easy, for the sake of the passangers. Up until Slingshot had to open his vocalizer. "Pff. Usually mechs complain that I'm not being cautious enough. But if you insist!" Followed by a gleeful cackle as Sandstorm pushes the throttle all the way up into the maximum red, and it's like gravity decided to yank back HARD on everyone else when the shuttle abruptly blasts forward several times faster than it was going. Probably a lot faster acceleration than it was meant to. Considering it only takes a few moments of redline burn for one of the engines to start smoking. While the asteroid is suddenly looming very fast in the viewers. Maybe a little too fast. To the point that ruins are actually becoming visible... and the shuttle is almost dead on for them. "I don't know about you guys, but that doesn't look like a parking lot. Hold on!" The pull back turns to a tumble to the side as Sandstorm throws the shuttle into a sideways roll to skim just over the ruins as the shuttle screams overhead, and then rolling to catch one of the wings against some rock. Which snaps off, causing the shuttle to roll farther, fortunately back onto its bottom before it plows into the dusty spacerock surface grinding several meters before finally coming to a stop. A few minutes later the hatch is practically kicked open, and Sandstorm saunters down it like he had intended to 'land' like that all along. "Hah. A shuttle crash even Rodimus would be proud of!" Bonecrusher points at the crashing Autobot shuttle. "Hrm. Maybe they're all dead? Let's go smash their dead bodies and ALSO MAYBE ROUGH 'EM UP TOO!" Bonecrusher charges forward gleefully before Blitzwing can manage a 'no, you're an idiot' and transforms into his bulldozer mode, making a mental note to bulldoze these ruins after he's bulldozed the Autobots and then immediately forgets it. BONECRUSHER transforms into his KOMATSU D575A SUPERDOZER mode! Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: You can only use this command while in combat. Blitzwing runs the edge of his knife along his fingertips, drawing a cleaner bite to the blade as sparks pop from his digits in the process. The triplechanger walks after the Constructicon, not really paying attention to current goings on, instead kicking a rock out of his way that goes sailing off into space for a billion years before it hopefully crashes into a planet and causes an extinction event. Hopefully that planet is Earth. "Yeah, sure. Right behind ya, buddy." Combat: Blitzwing sets his defense level to Neutral. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Blitzwing has 'skipped' his action for this round. Slingshot frowns at Fathom, "Please. I'm the best shot the autobots have and..." Sandstorm chooses this moment to finally pushes the throttle. The aerialbot is caught off guard and crashes into the wall. "Now that's what I call a landing!" he says. He gets back on his feet, "Time for action!" he shouts while opening the hatch and jumping out of the shuttle. He pulls his rifle and takes cover behind a rock. Combat: Slingshot sets his defense level to Protected. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Slingshot has 'skipped' his action for this round. Fathom just clings to whatever's welded to the bulkhead as Sandstorm grants them a graceless landing. When it all comes to a halt and the Wrecker kicks the hatch open, Fathom cautiously follows suit and shoots a look at Slingshot. "Here they come to greet us... But thankfully there's only two." He draws a pistol and looks to the orange mech for some orders, but he's coming to realize this mech isn't really meant for that... so he follows Slingshot. "I'll bet," he belatedly replies in regards to the best shot. "Reckon you can shoot the green one in the optic?" He beckons to Paco, "Over here bud!" The Global Pose Tracker marks that Fathom has 'skipped' his action for this round. Apocryphacius would have been smacked against a wall if not for being strapped down. As it is, he feels jarred and dizzy and... pretty disturbed by Sandstorm's knowledge of human women, really. He piles out of the shuttle, holding the sides of his active face. Sounding shaky, he asks, "Does anyone need repairs? ...aside from the shuttle. Putting a wing back on is... a large project." He cautiously follows Fathom and Slingshot out. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Apocryphacius has 'skipped' his action for this round. "About time someone had some -taste- in landing styles. For being jets you Aerialbots ain't half-ba .. eh?" Sandstorm turns his attention the other way at the sound of rumbling engines. Either the asteroid has just enough atmosphere for sound to travel, or this is one of those times when being in space gives a big middle finger to logical physics and says go have fun. He waves a hand in the direction of the bulldozer. "See? I got their attention away from the ruins and they're coming to say high. Let's go say hello back." Pff, everyone else is going to hide. Or -cover-. Pfff. "Eh, whatever." Sandstorm transforms, and tears off across the asteroid in a weaving, dirt kicking manner that make look reckless, but does serve a purpose of kicking up enough grit from the ground to make it hard to tell just where he's coming from. Or how many Autobots there even are. It's kind of like using his special ability as a smoke screen instead of blinding people. Sandstorm transforms into his Desert Patrol Vehicle mode. Combat: Desert Patrol Vehicle sets his defense level to Guarded. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Desert Patrol Vehicle has 'skipped' his action for this round. "Blitzwing, I've got news- and it's REALLY GOOD!" The dozer lurches forward to the now fortified Autobot position. "If the Autobots died in that crash, they're still moving around a bunch! So that means WE GET TO MAKE THEM STOP DOING THAT!" "TOOOT TOOO!" Goes Bonrcrusher's bulldozer horn. "That means hitting faces," he adds to himself, sounding pleased. And then he rams his way towards the Wrecker. Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer strikes Desert Patrol Vehicle with his Ram attack! Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack. Blitzwing finally looks up, suddenly aware of his surroundings. "Eh? Oh. Right." The triplechanger grins, opting to keep his knife in-hand rather than shift to the scimitar in his inventory, or better yet his gryo-rifle for long range supression fire. Nah, the knife'll do. Nothing quite as thrilling as bringing a knife to a gunfight. "Kill the Wrecker, Bonecrusher. I'll play with the others." Blitzwing chuckles in sinister tone, walking openly after the Autobot crash site without fear, hesitation, or bothering for cover. Combat: Blitzwing sets his defense level to Guarded. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Blitzwing has 'skipped' his action for this round. Slingshot grins at Fathom, "You bet I can." Raising his head above the rock he's hiding behind, the aerialbot points his rifle at the Constructicon, "Just watch... damn... Hey you loser! Transform! I need to shoot you in the optic!" With Blitzwing coming for them, the Aerialbot decides to switch target, "I'll hit the one in the face instead. Does it work for you" he ask Fathom. Not waiting for an answer, he pulls the trigger. Combat: Slingshot sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Slingshot strikes Blitzwing with his IN YOUR FACE attack! -3 "None yet, I'll letcha' know," Fathom says to Paco, peering over the cover with his pistol cocked skyward. Slingshot lands a hit, like he said he would. "Nice shot!" He shifts to level his weapon on Blitzwing as well, Sandy's obviously more than capable on his own. "That one's ugly..." Apocryphacius's thoughts wander a bit. They're out in an asteroid field in the middle of nowhere. The shuttle has crashed, and Apocryphacius thinks it will take quite some time before he will have it space-worthy again. /If/ they can defeat the Decepticons, they will... be stuck here. Slingshot. Fathom. Sandstorm. Apocryphacius. Stuck here, for at least a few days. Three Autobots, one Quintesson. And sometimes Apocryphacius looks at Sandstorm's silhouette, not the colours, never the colours, and he thinks about another time he was stuck in a place with three... Transformers, and what they did to him... And he wonders what he would do to Sandstorm, if he had the Wrecker at his mercy. Bottlethrottle's already dead. But those thoughts vanish. Apocryphacius doesn't want to be thinking them, especially not around... well. There's a battle, anyway. He can't be daydreaming. Protect the ruins... The Quintesson wearily calls out, "Decepticons, I am certain that killing me is much more interesting than those ruins. Get on with it, would you?" There. Distraction done. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Apocryphacius has 'skipped' his action for this round. Combat: Fathom sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Fathom strikes Blitzwing with his Laser attack! No one would be crazy enough to play chicken with a bulldozer!... right? Right?! Come on, not even... Nope, here comes the buggy roaring straight for Bonecrusher. And not slowing down. Or turning away... or even veering at the last moment. There's an audible thud as dozer blade slams into chassis. Then the dunebuster ramps up the angle of blade even as his front end is impacted from the collision and goes airborn thanks to his speed. The buggy starts to spin midair, only for it to become transformation as Sandstorm switchs to robot mode, draws his blaster, and fires at the bulldozer even as he's twirling midair. Feet come down to hit the ground afterwards, skidding a bit as Sandstorm crouchs to take the recoil. Desert Patrol Vehicle transforms into his Sandstorm mode. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Komatsu D575A Superdozer with his Sandblaster Gun attack! -2 Combat: You took 11 damage. Combat: Sandstorm's attack damages your armor. Combat: Secondary Damage! One of Blitzwing's burly shoulders rocks as the round from Slingshot's rifle impacts upon a layer of ablative tank armor mounted there, leaving a ragged smear of molten metal that hisses with evaporated alloys. The triplechanger looks himself over, then back at the responsible Aerialbot. Blitzwing tsks at Slingshot, wagging a finger at him while still advancing. "Not nice, Slingsh*t! Now we can't be friends." The Decepticon laughs, rocket boots blasting bright and launching the triplechanger skyward in an arc that careens onto Slingshot like a mortar round. During his fall, the triplechanger takes another blast from Fathom, but the bolt barely registers on his HUD. Coming down at the Aerialbot like a freightastrotrain, Blitzwing stabs at Slingshot's face with his blade's serrated edge, the length of which the size of some Minicon's arms. Combat: Blitzwing misses Slingshot with his Unnecessary Reconstructive Surgery (Punch) attack! "HA!" Bonecrusher transforms into robot mode, extremely pleased with himself that he hit Sandstorm so hard that the Triplechanger has ceased to exist. "AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Sandstorm shoots his chest and a big chunk of his plating falls off. "WHAT? Acid rain!" Bonecrusher points his pistol skyward, extremely angry, and spots Sandstorm. "No, an Autobot! I'll crush you like I crushed your twin, Autobot!" BONECRUSHER transforms into his CONSTRUCTICON BRUISER mode! Combat: Bonecrusher strikes Sandstorm with his Constructicon Pistol attack! "Oh slag it" is the only things Slingshot manages to as the triplechanger drops towards him, aiming a blade at his face. The smaller bot dives under the Decepticon, barely managing to dodge the blade. He rises behind Blitzwing, "Nice try slowpoke! Fathom, watch this!" then Slingshot quickly fires at Blitzwing before turning his gun towards the constructicon and firing a second shot. Combat: Slingshot strikes Bonecrusher with his Neutron Barrage Area attack! Combat: You took 17 damage. Combat: Slingshot misses Blitzwing with his Neutron Barrage Area attack! Fathom cringes when he spots that giant serrated blade nearly cleave Slingshot's face in half. Nearly. He takes the opportunity to move around the big triplechanger towards a larger cluster of ruins. So tempting! It's everything he can do to keep from digging through rubble. Job to do. He does at least spare Slingshot enough attention to watch him sling some neutrons at Bonecrusher, and offers naught but a tense thumbs-up from his guarded perch atop a downed pillar. Two katars are drawn from subspace. Here's to hoping Sandy will just scare 'em off. Combat: Fathom takes extra time to steady himself. Pass "Oh, gonna be a tough guy are we?" Sandstorm unflexes his legs to stand upright fully, half turning towards the constructicon and holding out an arm, palm up, and making the universal 'come get some' curl and uncurl of two fingers. Which Bonecrusher does, except instead of coming, it's shooting. The gun blast tears across Sandstorm's chestplace, leaving a burned crater and spidering cracks across the otherwise somewhat bright orange and yellow colors. He looks down at it a moment, and then shrugs his wheel-bearing shoulders. "Okay, I can see how one of those pistols killed Prowl. But I'm made of sterner stuff!" Feet kick off the ground, practically launching himself towards the big lime green lug. Go go low asteroid gravity. "Now lets get to the fun part..." A flick of the wrist pulls out his heated trench knife, the blade glowing a visible red-orange hue as he lunges with it leading the way. "WRECK 'N' RULE!" Combat: Sandstorm strikes Bonecrusher with his Thermal Knife attack! Combat: You took 10 damage. Combat: Sandstorm's attack has damaged your Accuracy! Combat: Secondary Damage! Apocryphacius follows after Fathom into the ruins because an Autobot he just met is obviously a great guy to be alone with, isn't that so? He hides behind a pillar and looks up at Fathom's katars. Unusual weapon. Now who would think of something like that? Hesitantly, he asks, "Do you like the Autobots, Fathom?" A bit of a weird question. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Apocryphacius has 'skipped' his action for this round. Bonecrusher gets shot in the back, and turns around to face Slingshot. "An Aerialbot! Oh I like busting you guys up- A LOT!" And then Sandstorm lands and sticks a knife in his shoulder, which doesn't make Bonecrusher happy. Like, at all. He glares, grabbing the wrist of Sandstorm's knifehand. "You know I didn't like that much, no I really didn't and do you know what I'm gonna do now?" He pauses for response. "THIS!" He lashes out for Sandstorm's throat and GOES FOR THE CHOKESLAM. Combat: Bonecrusher sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Bonecrusher strikes Sandstorm with his CHOKESLAM FROM CONSTRUCTIHELL attack! Blitzwing's emphatic thrust does not result in a glorious display of Slingshot's internals, which has the triplechanger frowning. Then an attempt at an insult. The big triplechanger is surprisingly quick on his feet, as evidenced by his quick side step of the Aerialbot's rifle shots. "Slow poke? You don't know me very well, do ya?! Just ask your brother, Air Raid about me sometime - unless of course he didn't make it back to base after what we did to him down in the Istoral Trench a few cycles back. Ha ha ha. Y'know, I bet after we're all dead and gone, someone'll find that place and mistake it for a cave painting. It was pretty gruesome, let me tell ya! Ha ha ha!" Blitzwing spins his knife deftly about his thick digits, revealing the handle to be fashioned into a set of brutal brass knuckles, crowned with spikes. "Now c'mere! I wanna peel that dome of yours off!" Blitzwing shouts as he punches at Slingshot's face. Combat: Blitzwing misses Slingshot with his Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself attack! Combat: Blitzwing's STUCK attack leaves him unable to transform! Slingshot goes Neo on Blitzwing by leaning back to dodge his fist... before falling on his back. "Yeah yeah. Only... Air Raid is the second best Aerialbot. Behind ME!". Instead of getting back on his feet, Slingshot transforms and vertically take off... just cause he can. Then he speeds away before coming back towards the triplechanger at full speed, all gun blazing. Slingshot leaps into the air and transforms into a AV-8B Harrier II. Combat: AV-8B Harrier II misses Blitzwing with his Laser attack! "If I wanted you to like it I wouldn't be using a kni-ffff!" Sandstorm's witty retort is unfortunately cut off as Bonecrusher grabs his neck and, despite being shorter than the Wrecker, hefts him off his feet and slams Sandstorm into the ground. He sputters a bit, mostly from the impact tearing up his back, since robots can't really choke and all that. Until he finally grabs the offending limb with both his hands to pull it free of his neck. "I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this!" Both of his legs bend in quickly to get up under Bonecrusher and then unflex to plant his feet into the greenie's midsection and kick him off. "Ally oop!" And maybe hard enough to kick him into Blitzwing. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Bonecrusher with his You two needed a reuinion (Ruckus) Area attack! Combat: You took 8 damage. Combat: Sandstorm's attack has damaged your Accuracy! Combat: Sandstorm misses Blitzwing with his You two needed a reuinion (Ruckus) Area attack! Fathom regards Apoc briefly, the "blinks" and looks over at him proper. "Do I... /like/ the Autobots?" Paco's a quint, he had expected some oddness, but it's still a strange question. "Of course I do." Pause. "Do you?" Again, he's tempted to delve into some existential conversation, but they really ought to help out! Paco can hold down the fort, surely, so Fathom moves to assist Slingshot. Even if Blitzwing is really intimidating. He comes up from behind and aims two horizontal slashes across the triplechanger's back. Combat: Fathom sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Fathom strikes Blitzwing with his Twin Katar Slash attack! Apocryphacius's reply is a soft, "Ah. I am glad, then, that you like the Autobots." He pauses awkwardly, and he finds that he cannot actually answer Fathom's question. All he can manage is to stammer, "The EDC is allied with the Autobots." Ah, but Autobots are all so brave. He stays back behind the pillars. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Apocryphacius has 'skipped' his action for this round. Well, kicking Bonecrusher doesn't send the Constructicon sailing...he was built to be more or less impact proof. But it does stagger him back and put some space between himself and the Triplechanger. "You wanna use knives huh yeah it seems like you do..." He punches his fists together a few times with a loud CLANG. "I got knives too, Autobot! I call 'em my fists!" Despite that making no sense, Bonecrusher closes in to start using his knives. Combat: Bonecrusher misses Sandstorm with his PUNCHSTORM (Punch) attack! Blitzwing whiffs again, growing the slightest bit more frustrated by his inability to cave in Slingshot's stupid looking face. He tries to grapple with the Aerialbot that has collapsed onto the ground before him, but collects only the empty vacuum of space as the jet manages to take off just in the nick of time. "Awww, where ya goin', baldy? You can't run now - we're just getting started!" The triplechanger laughs, even as he realizes that the Aerialbot has not escaped at all, but only looped around to come screaming at him in a bold strafing run. "AH! NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Blitzwing sprints after the incoming jet, side-stepping the laser lances that eat up the asteroid right at his heels. The cantankerous criminal leaps at just the right moment to grab at both of Slingshot's wings from the underside, seeing him whisked off into the air under the Aerialbot's fuselage, just above where Bonecrusher impacts the ground. The triplechanger blows past Fathom so quickly that the Autobot's attempts at striking him result in less than a scuff to his drab military paint job. "Now to find out where that dumb skull of yours ends up in your alternate mode!" Blitzwing cackles, unsheathing his electron scimitar and stabbing at Slingshot's undercarriage. Combat: Blitzwing misses AV-8B Harrier II with his Treasure Hunt attack! Well that's one sturdy Constructicon, if he didn't get airborn even in the low asteroid gravity. Must be the bits of die cast construction. Sandstorm rocks back from the kick to use the recoiling movement to flip himself over backwards and onto his feet again. Standing up just in time to see Bonecrusher come stomping towards him with fists at the ready. PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH AND MORE PUNCHING! ... That not one lands as Sandstorm just grabs the shorter Constructicon by the forehead and holds him out at arm's length, the flailing fists not reaching past the open space between them. Then looks the other way to glance at his wrist as if to check a watch. Tick tick tick. "Okay, that's long enough." He turns back to Bonecrusher, and uses the hand hold to yank the Constructicon's head down. While bringing his knee up to meet it. Probably won't do much damage to that thick noggin of his, but it will at least look badass. AV-8B Harrier II curses as he misses his target and once more when Blitzwing leaps at him with his scimitar. He barely managed to avoid the attack but it nearly forces him to crash into the ruins. He avoids this by transforming at the last moment. "You may be fast but not fast enough for Singshot!". The aerialbot raises his right arm to aim his weapon at the triplechanger and with his other hand he motions : Bring it. The AV-8B Harrier II unfolds into the robot mode of Slingshot. Combat: Slingshot sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Sandstorm is size 6, slightly larger than you. Combat: Slingshot takes extra time to aim his next attack. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Bonecrusher with his I told you I was gonna bust faces. Never said it would be by PUNCHING (Smash) attack! Combat: You took 12 damage. Combat: Sandstorm's attack has damaged your Firepower! Fathom can't keep up with the jet action, so he moves to help with Bonecrusher. Sandstorm totally knees Bonecrusher's skull and it does indeed look rad. Twirling a katar once, he lunges in from the side and aims to stick the blade between the panels on Bonecrusher's side. Combat: Fathom strikes Bonecrusher with his Core Line Puncture attack! Combat: You took 6 damage. Combat: Fathom's attack has damaged your Velocity! Combat: Fathom's attack drains your energon reserves. The katar folds out into three blades and slices up an energon line bad. There's energon everywhere! Apocryphacius also has to wonder who would design a weapon to bleed out an opponent like that. Rather gruesome, isn't it? But Apocryphacius is the one carrying around a can of thermite on his person. He feels like he should be doing something, but... what? Blitzwing's purple-pink sabre thrums with electricity, crackling wickedly like a handheld lightning bolt. But the budget must have went entirely to the special effects department instead of the choreographer, because the triplechanger's swipe at the jet's belly sings across nothingness. Having put his weight into the strike, Blitzwing finds himself off-balance once Slingshot banks and transforms with him still holding on. The triplechanger rolls with the jet's momentum, though, and uses his Decepticon-patented anti-gravity engines to throttle back down to the asteroid's surface. He smiles at Slingshot, who beckons him with all the bravado of one who won't remember any of this in the morning and will have to find out what happened on YouTube - y'know, whenever he's able to get up and walk to a computer again. "I'd be happy to," Blitzwing responds with an evil grin, charging at his opponent while simultaneously transforming, barreling down upon the Aerialbot as a fierce Leopard tank! "SGLORGLE! MORFLOBLERN!," Bonecrusher shouts after his face gets crushed by Sandstorm's knee. This time, he does float up and away from the area's gravity, clearly at a disadvantage. He lands a short distance away and gets stabbed in the 'ribs' by Fathom. "PLARP!" He threatens Fathom, and transforms to chase after the dolphin bot. BONECRUSHER transforms into his KOMATSU D575A SUPERDOZER mode! Combat: Leopard 2A6M sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer strikes Fathom with his Ram attack! Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack. Combat: You have foolishly damaged your own Accuracy! Combat: Leopard 2A6M misses Slingshot with his Tank Overrun attack! Slingshot leaps into the air, avoiding the charging tank. As he passes over him, he unloads his weapon until the triplechanger is out of his line of sight, before landing on his feet behind the tank. "What's wrong Blitzwing? You know I'm disappointed. I must say Astrotrain is more challenging than you." Combat: Slingshot sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Slingshot strikes Leopard 2A6M with his Neutron Rifle attack! Bonecrusher is reduced to weird noises at least. Fathom yanks out his katar just in time to get smacked with that giant evil shovel. "ACK!" He stumbles and scrambles to keep on his feet and out from the horrible treads that are following him, then hastily transforms into his tricar mode, zooming out of reach hopefully. Fathom transforms into a blue-and-yellow Campagna T-Rex tricar! Combat: Campagna T-Rex sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Campagna T-Rex takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Apocryphacius continues hiding like the useless coward he is... oh, well, actually, he peeks out to throw some thermite at Blitzwing. it was burning a hole in his pocket, anyway. Not literally. Not yet. Combat: Apocryphacius strikes Leopard 2A6M with the Apocryphacius-forged THERMITE IN YOUR EYES attack! Katars are kind of like knives, so no surprise when Sandstorm lets out a low whistle at Fathom using one to shiv Bonecrusher in the side. "Nice choice in weapons, toots." Look at that energon bleed... and what's that over the radio? For a moment Sandstorm actually pays attention to what the nerds are saying. Triplechanger? Huh. The metallic crunching of Fathom getting dozered snaps him back to the fight at hand. Good thing he's still in one piece. Even better than he transforms and drives away, away from the slower moving bulldozer. Grrr. Cue Triplechanger big brother reaction. Sandstorm pulls out a device, twirls it one, and then locks it onto the end of his sandblaster. Effectively turning it into a one shot launcher. "Hey, Constructacreep." He turns, fires the projectile at Bonecrusher. "Yippy aye ki ya motherfu--" The sound of the hopeful impact results cuts off the rest of what he's saying, but you can probably imagine. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Komatsu D575A Superdozer with Sandstorm's Favorite Backup Plan's Retributive Overkill attack! Combat: Sandstorm's Sandstorm's Favorite Backup Plan is destroyed! Combat: You took 24 damage. Combat: You are very aware that your life is in danger! Combat: Sandstorm's attack has damaged your Firepower! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Komatsu D575A Superdozer 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Komatsu D575A Superdozer falls to the ground, unconscious. Komatsu D575A Superdozer gets good and exploded, launching into the asteroid's orbit and getting caught up in the gravitational pull of...I dunno, space stuff. The mostly dead robot begins a slow orbit of the asteroid. Embarrassing. BONECRUSHER transforms into his CONSTRUCTICON BRUISER mode! Leopard 2A6M powers past the Aerialbot, oblivious to the laser rounds that burn out against his heavy ablative armor. He's built for that kinda thing, after all. But let's be clear - the Aerialbot is never out of the triplechanger's line of sight. Blitzwing's charging maneuver was more of a baiting tactic, really. And now - time to make it pay off! As the tank continues to churn over the terrain, Blitzwing's track-mounted turret pivots back around, training after Slingshot and drawing a bead on that golden forehead from a distance. Heavy machinery can be heard operating within the hull of the tank - a gruesome payload is loaded into the cannon's receiver. Targeting computers sweat over a firing solution. The gun mount adjusts its trajectory, ever so slightly. And then.... *BOOM!* A 125mm shell explo- no, that's not right. Actually, what's happened is a thermite charge connects against the bulbous armored shell of the tank's main turret, blanketing him in a shower of painful, RADAR scrambling heat that completely throws his targeting systems into complete and utter disarray. Shuddering under the sound and fury of it all, and with his grand coup all but ruined, Blitzwing rises up and races into orbit right after the bulldozer, but under much better circumstances - he still functions! - and contines on right past the freely floating, unconcious Constructicon. "Sorry, bro. You ain't exactly worth this kinda headache." If the 'Bots want this worthless rock, they can have it. Combat: MiG-25PD Foxbat-E begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Slingshot runs after Blitzwing shaking his fist, "Come back you coward! I'm not done with you!" Sandstorm blows the smoke off the barrel of his blaster as he turns and walks away from the launched bomb blasting Bonecrusher into low orbit. Because the cool guys always walk away from explosions without looking back... Until he stops a few moments after, remembering Blitzwing was still here. But now he's not. Oh well. Campagna T-Rex brakes hard and twists around to witness Sandstorm coming to the rescue. Epic! He springs up into his bot mode and folds his arms, smirking as Bonecrusher soars off and Blitzwing follows. "Phew! Apocryphacius, you all right?" Fathom shifts back into his root mode. Apocryphacius is, as he had worried about, stuck on a rock with three Autobots. He comes out from behind the pillar and makes a shrugging gesture with his tentacles. "Not a scratch on me. The rest of you, though..." He pulls out his scanner to look at them. Combat: Apocryphacius runs a diagnostic check on Sandstorm Combat: Apocryphacius runs a diagnostic check on Slingshot Combat: Apocryphacius runs a diagnostic check on Fathom Blitzwing has left. Blitzwing heads back to OOC-Land. Sandstorm ehs, giving it a dismissive wave. "This is just barely scratching the armor compared to how I usually come back from a fight." Glances towards the shuttle 'landing'. "... Speaking of which, we might need a ride home." Slingshot comes back towards the other Autobots, "Well that was easier than I thought." Apocryphacius draws himself up on his hover column, and his faces click around. He says firmly to Sandstorm, "You will allow me to repair you, and then I will repair Fathom. Then you lot can explore the ruins while I see to the shuttle." Apocryphacius transforms into his Death mode. Death transforms into his Judgement mode. Sandstorm rolls his optics back with a "Fiiiiiiine" and sits down on a fallen over piece of foundation. "I'm just a little dented, nothing bad." Fathom just turns and bolts, all of his little external scanners folding out of his armor or over his optics. RUINSSS. Judgement takes another look over the scans, and then he gently reaches into one of Sandstorm's injuries, finds Sandstorm's pain sensors, and shuts them off. Apocryphacius is well aware that Sandstorm doesn't mind pain. However, 1) a Quintesson cannot afford to have a reputation for cruelty if he is to survive among Autobots, 2) there are young impressionable Autobots watching, and 3) Apocryphacius is being kind of passive aggressive at Sandstorm. That done, he makes quick work of Sandstorm's injuries, repairing damaged components and sealing his plating back up. "How do you feel now, Sandstorm?" Combat: Apocryphacius prepares Sandstorm for surgery, his COMBAT flag has been waived. Combat: Judgement expertly repairs Sandstorm's injuries. Combat: Judgement is able to repair some of Sandstorm's internal systems damage. "... Y'know," Sandstorm comments as his sense of pain is suddenly numb, "That's almost weirder feeling than being hurt." He's a reckless daredevil, there's probably a bit of masochism in there somewhere. Fortunately it doesn't last too long until Apoc is done with his work. "As good as ever." He reachs over to pat Apoc on the head. "You're useful to have around, even if your name is utterly unpronouncable." "Better off alive than dead?" Apocryphacius asks Sandstorm, and there's a bit of a biting edge to his words. He takes the pat on the head like a dog. That's what he is, isn't he? The Autobots' dog. And some of them like to kick the dog. "Fathom, I will see you now." He doesn't even look at the scans again. His own fault for being vagely football shaped Fathom reluctantly returns to Paco's little repair site, holding a piece of brick that looks entirely uninteresting. He sits before the Quintesson, seemingly comfortable enough - the Autobots seem to trust this fella'. "The stories this thing has to tell!" he exclaims, gesturing to his tiny brick. "Fix him up. I'm gonna go take a look around." Sandstorm pauses. Sure, the jets were flying around, so why the hell not. He transforms to helicopter mode this time and buzzes off to explore the space rock a bit. "Stories shmories. I'm gonna find something big and crumbly enough to nearly kill myself trying to climb!" ... Why would he want to CLIMB when he's got a mode that can FLY? Wreckers, go figure. Sandstorm transforms into his Sikorsky S-62A Helicopter mode. Judgement doesn't do a schematics check or anything. He just switches off Fathom's pain sensors and gets to work. It's quicker than working on Sandstorm - much quicker. Fathom was less injured, yes? Apocryphacius actually looks interested in the brick. "You hold with removing items from a site?" Combat: Apocryphacius prepares Fathom for surgery, his COMBAT flag has been waived. Combat: Judgement expertly repairs Fathom's injuries. Combat: Judgement is able to repair some of Fathom's internal systems damage. Slingshot has left. Slingshot heads back to OOC-Land. "Well if it can be put in a museum and preserved properly. Who knows what'll happen to it way out here!" Fathom stays relatively still, only turning over his find in his hands when Paco isn't welding something. "Yeah well, you'll never know the stories," he calls to Sandstorm. Missing out on rock stories. Judgement points out gently, "If whoever lived here ever comes back... they may be rather angry to find their property stolen. Not everyone views events through the same lense. All better now?" "Here's to hoping no one lives here," Fathom does seem a bit uneased by the possibility though. He puts the rock down and stands, grinning. "Yep, thanks doc. I've been hit with worse. How long are we here, you think?" "If all goes well, I should have the shuttle up and running in a day. If all does not go well..." The Quintesson makes a shrugging gesture.